Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday embarked on the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from Thoubal in Manipur with a promise to bring peace and harmony in the ethnic violence-hit state.
The violence that broke out in the northeastern State in May last year has claimed more than 180 lives and rendered thousands homeless.
Addressing a public meeting in Thoubal, which is south of Manipur capital Imphal, Mr. Gandhi also hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying perhaps for the BJP and the RSS, Manipur was not a part of India.
“Lakhs of people faced losses, but the Prime Minister has not come here to wipe your tears, hold your hand or embrace you. Maybe for Narendra Modi, the BJP and the RSS, Manipur is not a part of India. Your pain is not their pain,” Mr. Gandhi said.
“We understand the pain that the people of Manipur have been through, we understand the hurt, the sadness. We will bring back harmony, peace and affection for which this state was known,” he said.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also slammed the Prime Minister, saying that he came to the northeastern State only to seek votes and not to share the grief when the people of the state are in pain.
“Modi has time to drive by the sea, take a dip in the sea but has not come to Manipur. Modi keeps chanting ‘Ram, Ram’, but he should not do it to seek votes. The BJP mixes religion and politics, and incites people,” he said at the launch of the yatra.
“The BJP has ‘Ram’ on its lips but carries a knife by their side. They should not have such an approach towards people,” the Congress president said.
Mr. Kharge said the Congress stood for social justice, secularism and equity. Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra is being undertaken to save the Constitution and democracy, and fight the fascist forces, he said.
The Congress president said he was proud that a leader of his party was moving from door-to-door to spread the message of peace.
Earlier, Mr. Kharge unveiled the bus on which Mr. Gandhi and other Congress leaders will travel from Manipur to Mumbai as part of the yatra.
The yatra will cover a distance of 6,713 km, straddling 100 Lok Sabha constituencies and 337 assembly segments and covering 110 districts. It will conclude in Mumbai on March 20 after 67 days.
Milind Deora ends his family’s 55-year relationship with Congress, joins Shinde’s Shiv Sena
Senior Congress leader Milind Deora, considered a close friend of Rahul Gandhi, quit the grand old party on Sunday, ending his family’s 55-year association with the Congress, and joined Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena in Mumbai.
The resignation comes hours after he dismissed as “rumours” the speculation that he was on his way out and would join the Shiv Sena, and on the day when Mr. Gandhi launched the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, a 6,200-km cross-country march from the northeast.
The Congress leaders have attributed the sequence of events to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP-led ruling coalition in the State, with senior leader Jairam Ramesh claiming that the timing of Mr. Deora’s exit has been decided by Mr. Modi for “headline management” to counter the yatra. “The mahurat (auspicious moment) was decided by the guru of headline management, sitting in Lok Kalyan Marg [official residence of the Prime Minister],” Mr. Ramesh told The Hindu.
“If one Milind Deora goes away, lakhs of Milinds who believe in our organisation and ideology stay,” the Congress leader said.
The former South Mumbai Lok Sabha MP, along with a battery of supporters, mostly from the business community, was welcomed to the ruling party by Mr. Shinde at Varsha, the official residence of the Chief Minister. His entry is likely to provide the party with a much-needed affable figure boasting strong ties with business leaders and Delhi’s political circles, for which the party so far had to depend on its ally, the BJP.
Soon after donning the saffron scarf, Mr. Deora called it a “very emotional day”. “I had never thought that I would quit Congress. Today, I joined Shiv Sena,” he said.
The 47-year-old said that the Congress, which used to offer constructive suggestions for the development of the country, now has only one goal and that is to speak against Prime Minister Modi. “Tomorrow, if he [Mr. Modi] says that Congress is a very good party, they will oppose it. I believe in the politics of GAIN - growth, aspiration, inclusivity and nationalism, and not PAIN - personal attacks, injustice and negativity,” the former Union Minister said.
“I decided to quit the party [Congress] and join him [Mr. Shinde]. I don’t believe in negative politics. My ideology is to work for the people. I don’t believe in abusing people and doing negative politics. Those who have no agenda, no positive programme to take the country forward will continue to speak negatively,” said Mr. Deora, a two-time MP from the country’s richest constituency, before losing it to Arvind Sawant of the Uddhav Thackeray faction in 2014.
Maldives asks India to withdraw troops by March 15
Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu has asked India to withdraw its military personnel from his country by March 15, a senior official here said on Sunday, nearly two months after Male sought their removal.
According to the latest government figures, there are 88 Indian military personnel in the Maldives.
In a press briefing, Abdulla Nazim Ibrahim, the public policy secretary at the President’s Office, said that President Muizzu has formally asked India to withdraw its military personnel by March 15, the SunOnline newspaper reported.
“Indian military personnel cannot stay in the Maldives. This is the policy of President Dr Mohamed Muizzu and that of this administration,” he said.
Maldives and India have set up a high-level core group to negotiate the withdrawal of troops. The group held its first meeting at the Foreign Ministry Headquarters in Male on Sunday morning.
The meeting was also attended by Indian High Commissioner Munu Mahawar, the report said.
Mr. Nazim confirmed the meeting and said the agenda for the meeting was the request to withdraw troops by March 15.
Spirit of Pongal evokes ‘Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat’: PM Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has likened the spirit of the festival of Pongal to that of national unity, one of “Ek Bharat Shreshta Bharat”.
Addressing a gathering at Union Minister L. Murugan’s residence to mark the festival of Pongal celebrated in Tamil Nadu, Mr. Modi said that the same emotive connection of unity could be seen in his government’s programmes of Kashi-Tamil Sangamam and Kashi-Saurashtra Sangamam, where links between these geographically separate areas could be celebrated.
“This feeling of unity is the biggest force to build a Viksit Bharat by 2047. The main element of the ‘Panch Pran’ that I have invoked from the Red Fort is to energise the unity of the country and to strengthen the unity,” he said.
Quoting saint poet Thiruvalluvar, Mr. Modi underscored the role of educated citizens, honest businessmen, and a good crop in nation-building. “During Pongal, fresh crop is offered to God which puts annadata kisans at the centre of this festive tradition,” he said.
He underlined the rural, crop, and farmer connection of every festival of India.
Recalling one of his speeches that dwelt on the connection between millets and Tamil traditions, he expressed happiness that there was a “new awareness” about the “superfood Shri anna” (millets) and many youth had taken up start-up ventures on millets.
He said that more than three crore farmers undertaking millet farming were directly benefited by the promotion of millets.
He concluded his speech with a call for a rededication to the resolution of strengthening the unity of the nation on the occasion of Pongal.
A cultural programme was also presented during the function, with senior Ministers, including Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also in attendance.
In brief
Denmark’s Prime Minister proclaimed Frederik X as king after his mother Queen Margrethe II formally signed her abdication, with massive crowds turning out to rejoice in the throne passing from a beloved monarch to her popular son. Margrethe, 83, is the first Danish monarch to voluntarily relinquish the throne in nearly 900 years. Many thousands of people gathered outside the palace where the royal succession was taking place, the mood jubilant as the Nordic nation experienced its first royal succession in more than a half-century, and one not caused by the death of a monarch.
Evening Wrap will return tomorrow.
